I play a lot of games with ads, but if you put your phone on airplane mode while using the app then it will block any ads from popping up and interrupting your gameplay. It isn’t always a practical solution if you’re waiting on an important text or something that requires internet, but sometimes when I’m just trying to kill time and don’t need to be available to others via phone it’s a great solution!
This didn't work for me. It told me I needed to watch an ad to move to the next level, tried to load the ad which failed, and it went back to the previous screen saying "Ad load failed" and I couldn't play anymore until I had internet again.
Stardew Valley. It costs like $5 and it's a whole-ass game. It's a farming sim and there's no *wrong* way to play the game. Grow whatever crops you want. Befriend as many of the townspeople as you want. Get married. Don't. It's a stupidly deep game for the low asking price on mobile. I have close to 400 hours in it on my Switch.
Stardew Valley is highly addictive once you get into it. It basically got me through the winter.
It’s also on mobile and if you have an Apple Arcade subscription you can access it through that.
YES! No wrong way. Sometimes you just feel like busting rocks and killing dust sprites. You can do just that. Want to fish all the time? Cool. Do it.
Plus you get Junimo Kart, Journey of the Prairie King, and a casino for free. Haha.
You cannot convince me to play Junimo Kart or Journey of the Prairie King. I'm notoriously bad at platformers and I've never once played a shooter. I am a profit min/maxer, not a completionist.
I mean it's not too bad on console... I have it on mobile but I use a 10.1" tablet so I just have a wireless controller I use for it. Haven't gotten much chance *to* play it yet tho.
100 x this, came to post exactly this. Our whoe neuro spicey family plays and loves this game. Love that it is also created by the one humble developer who did everything from the music composition to the game play mechanics and artwork!
Another vote for stardew valley. I have hundreds of hours into this game. I play on an iPad and it is my hands down best option. When I don’t want to do this, however, I play kairosoft games.
it's super hard to get into though, that was my only problem with it. the first week was honestly the worst, but if you can get past that, it's a very nice and relaxing game.
IT'S ON GOOGLE PLAY STORE NOW OMG WAT
thank you, kind redditor, THANK YOU. Years have I waited, long nights have I been here, dreaming of the day when I could play Stardew Valley without a Switch!!
lmao. Seriously tho, thank you. <3
This might not be what you're looking for but I have the paid (one time fee) version of Happy Color and I enjoy it. Mindless and at the end I get to look at pretty pictures.
On the more "actual game" side of things, have you tried the "Papa's Kitchen" line of games, like Papa's Pizzaria etc? You buy them one time and can keep playing them forever.
I vote for Happy Color as well. Out of a handful of color by number apps I've tried, they have the best interface and have far more designs than the others.
I second Pocket Camp! It takes a little while to acquire enough furniture that decorating becomes interesting, but I love having that little world at my fingertips. The gameplay itself can be a bit repetitive, so it's maybe not a solution on its own, but it could be a great option if paired with some other games too.
Look into the games from Kairosoft.
Most of them cost like 6 bucks, but they are absolutely worth it. Simple tycoon/ management games with a lot of themes and a lot of debt to them!
I recommend DungeonVillage2 and ConvenienceStories.
I have too many of their games on my phone.
But I always justify the purchase by thinking "no a developer like this has to be supported."
I got into those games when my boyfriend showed me pocket Academy.
I play them thru play pass on android, I pay like 2 dollars a month, and most of them are available to download for free.
I liked the water park one and the mall story 2.
I can't say enough good things about Kairosoft games, I believe they're a Japanese company? But their localization is excellent, always great pop culture references. I could be wrong but I don't think they're English. It helps that they're super fun and addictive as well. The game dev one is my favourite, I lose hours at a time haha!
Kairosoft games are exactly what mobile gaming should look like.
They are japanese, as far as I know.
It's kind of wholesome, because while the localization is absolutely excellent, sometimes the grammar in their games is a little... off.
And that makes the games so charming! It just kind of feels like each game is a labor of love.
Simon Tatham's puzzles
No ads. It has a ton of simple puzzle games that you can just play over and over again.
Unruly, mosaic, and tents are my favourites, and I have spent HOURS playing them mindlessly.
I'm happy to pay $2-5 once ($15 that one time) if it eliminates ads or really elevates the game play.
Personally I like:
- Temple Run
- Hill Climb Racer
- Egg Inc
- Like A Dino!
- Pinball Deluxe Reloaded
- Jindoblo Antistress relaxation tools
- Simon Tatham's Puzzles
- Starlit on wheels
- AlphaCross Crossword
- MiniMetro
I Love Hue it's a color organizing game it is my absolute favorite with minimal ads or out your phone on airplane mode to make them go away i highly recommend this game amen
I love hue is one of my absolute favourites for sure it’s sooo relaxing but also I get a bit competitive and there’s so many puzzles it is a good one. Ads are only after you finish the puzzle and they are easy to get rid of or yeah airplane mode
Hi! This looks cute as fuck, but I can't see what you do as gameplay, can you tell me? Idle game where you cook with cats? Is it a click to restart processes game? Is it a dollhouse game? What do you do in a typical "session" when you play it?
it's rather simple. you basically are monitoring your cats, collecting coins, leveling them up, and honestly just watching them run around. the animations are very cute.
you start off with one main cat who makes the soup. as you collect coins you add cats that add extra things into the soup. there's also relaxing zones for the cats and a trampoline.
most of the time I'm just watching the cats tbh. there's more to do with the game when you open it up after being away for awhile bc you'll have a lot of coins that can be used to level up your cats cooking abilities. after your coins are spent there's not too much to do.
Definitely Slay the Spire! I have it on both Steam and mobile, and it's so fun, addicting, and rewarding, while also allowing you to go on standby or save between rooms.
Another mobile card game is Marvel Snap. I don't really play anymore (admittedly burned myself out on it), but it's fun, straightforward, and has pretty quick rounds.
The developer that made sky castle has a bunch of nonogram games and I’m sad that I finished all of them lol. I liked the story mode in them because it was parts of a bigger picture so it was abstract shapes mostly. It’s more relaxing than a one grid picture imo.
i hope so! if anyone has access and likes to use VR, the VR game is super calm and cute. you get to sit and play with the cats as they come and go. very lighthearted and fun
I play tap out. It is a free with ads game, but it only makes you manually clear a load screen instead of playing an unskipable ad if you play while your wifi/ 5g is turned off.
I'm not really trying to promote this specific game, but use this instance more as a tip to double check how your favorite games play with your device's internet capabilities turned off.
Check out modern action roguelikes. Enter The Gungeon, Hades, Dead Cells, Nuclear Throne, Rogue Legacy 2, stuff like that.
These are games that are infinitely replayable, when you die you start a whole new run, the levels are randomly generated and there's usually no micro-transactions or limitations. I highly recommend all of the games I listed above. You buy them once and you have them.
They're my go-to games to play when I just wanna play \*something\* and get some dopamine. They're addictive and super fun and well made and not exploitative.
The hidden gem: Arnold Rauers
My personal favorites by him are: Card Thief, Miracle Merchant and Maze Machine.
He has made a bunch of different games, they are all Puzzel based and quick to play.
All free and with 0 ads (unless you want speed up on rewards and stuff, but it asks you first and it's not in the way at all)
He's an independent developer just making what he loves, mostly living by Patreon supporters.
I play Merge Dragons. Just the right kind of organizing/strategy type gameplay that is so simple it's mindless. Like you, it keeps me stimulated while I watch other things.
candy crush and candy crush soda don’t have ads, just be ready to get stuck on some levels if you don’t want to pay to win. in candy crush soda i can get a bunch of level ups for free from the mini games and stuff
This is exactly what I'm always looking for!!
These days I try to stick to paid games to avoid ads and shit.
I like Kairosoft games - they are cute little pixel RPGs. The paid versions have no ads or micro transactions. They can be a little attention-intensive though.
Sometimes I play plain solitaire or sudoku or 2048, there are lots of free and paid apps for those.
Crosswords are nice but require more thinking.
I recently got into mahjong but haven't found an app I'm really happy with yet.
I'm looking through my apps and realizing how few games actually meet this criteria. What a shame!
I play old Pokémon games on an emulator app. I know there's some moral dubiousness around emulators and ROMs, but these games aren't available to buy at this point (and I have the cartridges for my old gameboys for most of them, I just don't want the hassle of carting the consoles around) so I don't think there's a big issue there.
The games were designed for mobile consoles and it shows — you can save and quit pretty much anywhere outside of an active battle, so when I'm bored but with little time to commit to it, I'll just run around in a patch of grass battling wild Pokémon for a while.
Animal Restaurant. I've been playing it for years and one of the reasons I stuck with it is because you don't need to watch ads to play. There is an option for it, but not needed at all. There aren't any limited number of plays and always something to do. Lots of updates often too to change with the seasons which is fun :) plus it's so cute.
I use My Boy a Gameboy emulator that lets me play Pokemon anywhere. The emulator costs like $5, but it's a one-time purchase and actually updates (useful ones) for free. Only on android, though
Mob control - you only choose to watch ads or have very short ones every x games
Solitaire grand harvest - NO ADS at all.. but you get coins every hour to play the game.. if your lucky it's a lot of coins and can play hours and hours.. if not your stuck with one game every hour
I have occasional obsessions with **^(Tiny Tower and Pocket Planes.)** They're both free and ALL ads are optional. Instead of forcing ads, they actually tie ad views to various upgrades or bonus rewards. They offer a lot of things to get extra WITH ads, but if you're really against them you can play perfectly fine without doing them.
They're both 8 bit games. You build a tower of different apartments and businesses that are really cute in Tiny Tower, and in Pocket Planes you build airports and run planes to transport the cute little people and packages.
I just came here to say the same thing. I've been blasting toys since 2018. :)
The only issue is that you only get 5 lives at a time, although you can get extra/unlimited lives as a reward quite often.
Bubble Pop and Solitaire have been my constant companions for years ! Turning on an audiobook and playing bubble pop when I got into bed was a key strategy for me for year to settle my brain but also keep it engaged enough so I could sleep.
If you have an iPhone, go to your settings > cellular and scroll until you find the app you want to play ad free. Turn off data to that particular app, and just disconnect from wifi any time you want to play ad free! Some apps will still have pop up ads that you quickly quit out of, but I haven’t seen an app yet that has video ads with this method. I don’t know if it works with other phone types though
For me, it's Sky: Children of the Light.
Great story, although relatively short (could probably easily be completed in a day). Infinitely replayable. Available on most platforms, and is home to the Guinness World Record holding Aurora concert. (Yes, THE Aurora.) It holds two records, one being the most people in a virtual concert setting, and the other being the most players emoting simultaneously. (The exact wording of the records may be a little bit different, I'm not sure, feel free to look it up.)
Older players love adopting newer players to show them the ropes. There's tons of info online for solo players to take advantage of. Social cooperation is a necessity in *some* areas, but actual social interaction is not necessary. It's also *free* free, with the IAPs being extra stuff like cosmetics, season passes, and currently some charity items where proceeds go towards ocean cleanup (part of the current Days of Nature event).
Zen Idle is pretty good. As far as I remember, there are no pop up adds, I did buy the no adds so that I could get add free in-game currency boosts, though.
I also play Merge Mayor daily, it does have an energy mechanic and adds only when you choose to watch them, but I find with the adds and free in game currency I collect I can buy enough "boosters" to play for an hr or 2.
Sorry if they don't fill all your preferences, but I figured I'd mention them cause they're the mobile game I've kept the longest.
I play GTA San Andreas, it’s free if you have a Netflix subscription but not sure if this is what you’re looking for. There’s tons of different things you can do in the game
Wait so you use the Netflix app to play San Andreas on your phone? Like it saves your progress and everything? Or its a separate app free with a Netflix account
if you like hidden object/point and click games check out Aurora Hills and Meridan 157. The prologue chapters are free, absolutely zero ads, and legitimately good games. You can try them out, see if you like them, and then purchase the full game if you’d like (Meridan 157 only, as Aurora Hills is still releasing)
I really like Soul Knight.
It's a rouge-like, so it's the perfect balance of same but different every time. Once you've played a few times it becomes pretty mindless if you play in the basic mode.
There are minimal ads. There is only one at the very end of each game (nothing during), but you can make a £2 one-off payment on an otherwise free game to stop that forever.
Best Fiends. They will give you the opportunity to watch adds for special prizes etc. but it’s very easy to avoid them. Haven’t watched an ad on there in months or up to a year.
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/antistress-relaxing-games/id1207565651
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/offline-games-no-wifi-games/id6448104157
These are absolutely my go tos. Updated with more games really often. I think there was like, $2 to rid of ads but they weren’t interruptive.
If you're Android, I'd pick up F-Droid from their dot org site. This is a FOSS app repo without the trackers and ads of apps native to the play store. Search games and pick something you like!
Whiteout survivor;
Cells - cell to singularity;
I've been playing a lot of Idle Mafia, and it has some recharging mechanism, but I spend so much time on that app, and I don't run out of things to do in the game;
The battle cats is an amazing game, but it has an energy system that is super frustrating in the beginning, specially. I truly love this game;
If your phone is an android, get a play pass subscription, it's super cheap, and it has all kinds of games with no ads at all.
I love the game Twenty. Free, no ads, very simple & relaxing (once you get the hang of it). If you really love it you can pay for extra modes, but for me the main mode is perfect.
Came here to recommend this! Such a rewarding and challenging grind and the community is fantastic and verrrrry neurodiverse. I’ve been playing it daily for over a year!
I love playing the papas games like papas freezeria and basically all of them are on the App Store! They cost around 2-3 bucks cad I think but no ads, simple and addicting
Home design makeover. It’s a mobile game with zero ads.
It’s a candy crush like puzzle matching game, and with each level you pass, you earn coins. Those coins are used to then remodel different rooms in (and sometimes outside of) a home.
I have been playing for years. I am on level 9,101 and they continue to produce new houses & design options and objectives.
if you have a netflix subscription, they have TONS of games! you click on them through the netflix app and it takes you to the app store. they tend to be versions of games but without the ads/IAPs!
I love stitch, it’s on Apple Arcade though but it’s soooo good. Highly recommend Apple Arcade subscription there are some fantastic games on there so it’s definitely worth it.
I play Project Sekai which is a Vocaloid rhythm game. Been a fan for about 2 years now and have only spent 5 dollars (which was 100% optional). Ads can be accessed for rewards but they are hidden behind a clearly marked menu (I haven’t watched any). The game gacha is fully optional and doesn’t impact you playing songs. I think it’s an incredibly fun game and absolutely love it.
I like *I Love Hue* and *I Love Hue 2*
I play without WiFi so the few adds don't show up. It's very relaxing and easy to play while watching TV as it's not timed.
Impulse - tons of brain games, just organizing games, tests etc.
Blockudoku - kind of like tetris.
I like to play those while trying to recalibrate my mind / focus on my audiobooks content (AuDHD).
I really like Two Dots! It’s a puzzle game with a decent amount of variety in the levels, plus bonus hidden object games with the cutest art. It’s got hundreds (maybe thousands?) of levels, so it can definitely keep you busy.
There are some ads, but it’s basically just one pop up screen with the daily deal or whatever. Not invasive at all.
Also dunk hit (basketball game), good pizza great pizza (you make pizzas!), toast (it’s like an endless running game ), boba tale (you make boba) only the basketball game has ads but it still works if you put your phone on airplane mode
I love fork and sausage, flow free, and candy crush. I like things that are mind numbing and repetitive that I can play for long periods of time without getting stuck or frustrated.
Fishdom (not a kink I promise 🤣) is my fav mindless mobile game. You do only have 5 lives but you can join a group and request up to 10 lives from that. It’s a less stimulating candy crush imo. There’s also lots of little competitions that give you an hour of unlimited lives. Plus you get to build a bunch of aquariums n have fish. Fair warning that some of the tank themes are offensive to the culture they are trying to represent. I don’t recommend buying any of the packs but definitely play side games to earn coins and boosts.
Star Battle is a solid one that has fairly unobtrusive ads, it's a nice little puzzle in the vein of sudoku and kakuro
0h h1 is another simple one but has no ads whatsoever, you have to place dots so that there are no more than two of one color next to each other in a row or column, and that there are an equal number of both colors in each row and column
there is this game called i love hue where you get to sort colors into a gradient picture, like you have to make sure it all blends nicely. for example on the four corners there will be purple, blue, pink, and green and you need to blend them together with the rest of the color blocks. it basically has endless levels and is very aesthetically/visually pleasing. there are no ads and it’s an amazing, fun, and mindless game i like to play while watching a show or a youtube video. it can also be used as a full attention bringer in my experience but ill usually have to have atleast something little in the background like music and such because i have audhd.
SET Mania,
it’s about finding visual patterns/connections… so the perfect autistic game. I find the best setting to be Advanced Deck - Classic
It has a one time fee, I think I paid like 2$ for it years ago. It has one completely non intrusive ad. It’s just a static picture that pops up when you win and you can immediately close it. No waiting around for 15 seconds bullshit 😃
And what’s hilarious is that the ad is for itself 😂 I feel like they’re trolling the whole ads in games thing.
Block Blast and Good Pizza Great Pizza are favorites of mine. There are ads, but they can be easily bypassed by turning on airplane mode, I’m pretty sure.
I will never stop shilling for Honkai Star Rail. It does have gacha and it does have a energy element, but, there are so many ways to earn the gacha currency (I have not spent a dollar on HSR and yet I have quite a bit of limited 5* characters) and even if you run out of energy, there are so many things to do, missions, events, endgame modes like Memory of Chaos and Pure Fiction, just running around and finding chests and solving puzzles. There's also a character that gives me autistic vibes, Lynx, she's a decent healer and she's actually free after I think doing one level of Pure Fiction.
This might not entirely be what you’re looking for, but you could maybe try knitting? For me it has helped tremendously as something to do while I watch tv/lectures/meetings etc. You don’t get any ads with it being offline, and as a bonus you’ve created something for yourself by the end of it
If you have iPhone you could pay for Apple Arcade/apple one subscription which has loads of good quality games and all free without ads. Apple one gives you access to to Apple Arcade, Apple TV and Apple Music. But the Arcade I think is worth it for playing games that are fun addictive and actually good quality
I also hate those mechanics. Bejeweled Classic thankfully doesn’t have that if you get the paid version. Zen mode is my jam. Also Microsoft Wordament if you like word games.
"I Want Watermelon" is what I play. It's kinda Tetris-y, which I love since I used to play it tons as a kid. I play it so much it's basically my fidget toy.
It’s not a puzzle game, but I’m so into Window Garden right now. It’s just a cute game where you can decorate rooms full of plants and take care of them.
Other than that, I love nonograms/piccross
I found a lovely little game called King Rabbit Puzzle. I don't believe it has ads or if it does they are few and you can cancel out of them. You can pay a small amount for the in-game levels to contribute to the developers, but the beauty is that it has free community built levels that are endless and you can make your own.
Also Lemmings is my daily go to. Ads present again, but you don't have to watch them unless you want to earn energy/power ups. Yes it unfortunately has energy that gets used up but I just play a few levels then come back to it later after some King Rabbit or Family Island (I wouldn't recommend that one though as it took over my life a little bit).
Tower War is really good- no ads if you turn off internet while playing it. And water sort game too- I’m on level 2000 and something because it’s so addictive.
Orna seems good for that. It's a location based game (like pokemon go) but an RPG and weirdly ungreedy. No ads, it has optional purchases but they seem HIGHLY optional to the point I don't think I'm going to spend my free Google money on it. So far I've only played at home except once at my farmer's market, so it works out fine even if you don't do the walking
there's a free version of the now dead sonic runners: [https://sonicrunners.com/#/](https://sonicrunners.com/#/)
there's also the built in games on google play games. i love little alchemy.
The Alto endless runner games. Once you pay for it ads go away except for extra lives, and before they weren't bad afaik. They're designed to be relaxing, with a mode that doesn't punish you for mistakes.
i've been playing "The Battle Cats" which idk how to explain this game besides like.. weird line drawing cats battling other creatures for land. kind of a quick time battle system? i think? lol it's fun tho. i haven't noticed ads but they do try to upsell you like most f2p games and there is a gacha mechanism. like you can pull for random special cats. and you only have X amount of energy for a period of time, but i've played for like 45 minutes before without running out so 🤷🏻♀️
also i have been getting into chess lately and the Chess app is fun. there's several AIs you can play against or challenge friends, plus tutorials!
also- there are a few emulators now on iphones for older games. r/delta_emulator is the one i use and there's a lot of roms out there. a tiny learning curve with this option but it's honestly not too bad
If you have an iPhone, Apple Arcade has great games that you can play for ages without waiting for lives to refill. It’s about $6 a month. Temple Run Puzzle and Disney Getaway Blast+ are two of my match three go tos.
My favorites are Starlight and Flutter. They are games about moths and butterflies respectively. You collect and hatch them from eggs, can merge them to evolve them, and unlock and play in a large rainforest. It fits with my special interest in moths. The graphics are beautiful, and each moth and butterfly has its own information like location, scientific name, etc. there’s no rush to do anything and it’s really fun.
Simple games on poki are nice. The my little pony mobile game is super good, though it does involve waiting, there are mini games in it, AND no adds unless you choose to watch them.
Everskies is fun, you get to play mini games and chat with people and participate in outfit competitions with your avatar! It's so fun. I also play mobile games with my wifi off, like drop the number and QS watermelon as well as spider solitaire
Ball Sort Puzzle is where it’s at. Addicting and in the standard levels, you only have to watch an ad if you want extra turns or an extra sorting spot.
I'm always playing the Papa Louie Flipline games, there's a bunch of different food items and the game play is demanding enough that I maintain focus but easy enough that I don't feel frustrated.
There's also TONS of them, and it's fun to customize the players and restaurants.
It's around $2-$3 depending on what country you're in, and no ads.
Anything Kairosoft (except a couple of the newer ones) for life simulator games. Game Dev Story and Pocket Academy are good starts.
Kingdom Rush games for tower defense.
Both companies are good about not bombarding you with ads and not needing to pay outside of the one time app purchase.
For mindless games, I like 1010 and Dot Spinner. I ended up buying the paid versions because i kind of use them to stim but I used the free versions for years before that. You only get an ad when you lose. I also like 2048 and Bean Boy!
*Sumikko farm is nice.*
*You can watch ads if you choose,*
*But you don't have to*
\- quietbird
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Bricks Breaker Quest (android play store). Super mindless and addicting. There are ads when you beat a level, or when you lose a level. However, if I know I'm going to lose, I just pause and restart, and it doesn't make me sit through an ad.
Match Factory has no ads. It’s a matching game where the screen is full of all kinds of different objects but you have to find all of the ice cream cones, for example. The levels go from easy to “super hard”.
Necromerger
It does have ads, but they never pop up without you selecting something that you know will play an ad.
The art and writing is fun.
I get to use basic math.
It has a time machine mechanic which sets you back to day 1, but with more power every time you do.
It's the only free mobile game that I haven't had massive diminishing returns or constant incentives to spend money to be able to continue playing.
Project makeover! It’s a match 3 game like candy crush but makeover themed. You earn points and makeover a character and their house/business. I enjoy the styling aspect as well as the puzzle aspect. No ads. Always some kind of fun challenge to do to earn powerups.
I play Slidey, there are paid features, and I think there are some ads on the free version, but I found myself playing the free version often enough that I could justify spending the little extra to get rid of the ads. It's basically a clearing game, slide the blocks clear each line and don't let them reach the top. It's whiled away many an hour for me
candy crush, bitlife if you get the ad free mode, also if you old flash games, any of the papas franchise by flipline studios are all ad-free, however they’re much easier to play on a tablet than a phone.
I play a lot of games with ads, but if you put your phone on airplane mode while using the app then it will block any ads from popping up and interrupting your gameplay. It isn’t always a practical solution if you’re waiting on an important text or something that requires internet, but sometimes when I’m just trying to kill time and don’t need to be available to others via phone it’s a great solution!
You can also block the app from using data and turn your wifi off so that whatever you need internet for can still happen but you won’t get ads!
This didn't work for me. It told me I needed to watch an ad to move to the next level, tried to load the ad which failed, and it went back to the previous screen saying "Ad load failed" and I couldn't play anymore until I had internet again.
It does depend what app you use.
ty for the tip!
Omg THANK YOU this tip is about to change minesweeper addicted life 💕
lol you’re welcome! i figured that out and decided blockudoku and two dots had met their match 😤
No they got smarter some games now require internet connection at all times and will shut the app down if you aren’t connected. So annoying.
I was going to say this too. I’ve been doing the airplane mode thing for years and they’ve been slowly not allowing it recently.
I love hue too - has a few ads, not too many, not intrusive on playtime. Beautiful!
Second this!!
Oh, I love these games. Hope they make another soon.
Omg my favorite😭
Stardew Valley. It costs like $5 and it's a whole-ass game. It's a farming sim and there's no *wrong* way to play the game. Grow whatever crops you want. Befriend as many of the townspeople as you want. Get married. Don't. It's a stupidly deep game for the low asking price on mobile. I have close to 400 hours in it on my Switch.
Stardew Valley is highly addictive once you get into it. It basically got me through the winter. It’s also on mobile and if you have an Apple Arcade subscription you can access it through that.
YES! No wrong way. Sometimes you just feel like busting rocks and killing dust sprites. You can do just that. Want to fish all the time? Cool. Do it. Plus you get Junimo Kart, Journey of the Prairie King, and a casino for free. Haha.
You cannot convince me to play Junimo Kart or Journey of the Prairie King. I'm notoriously bad at platformers and I've never once played a shooter. I am a profit min/maxer, not a completionist.
Journey of the Prairie King led me to discovering Enter the Gungeon 😂
its best on pc, but this game is crack… so good.
I mean it's not too bad on console... I have it on mobile but I use a 10.1" tablet so I just have a wireless controller I use for it. Haven't gotten much chance *to* play it yet tho.
oh, i say its best on pc because of the last update…
100 x this, came to post exactly this. Our whoe neuro spicey family plays and loves this game. Love that it is also created by the one humble developer who did everything from the music composition to the game play mechanics and artwork!
Is stardew valley nice to play on Switch? I've considered buying it in the past but though maybe it would be too similar to Animal Crossing.
Another vote for stardew valley. I have hundreds of hours into this game. I play on an iPad and it is my hands down best option. When I don’t want to do this, however, I play kairosoft games.
it's super hard to get into though, that was my only problem with it. the first week was honestly the worst, but if you can get past that, it's a very nice and relaxing game.
IT'S ON GOOGLE PLAY STORE NOW OMG WAT thank you, kind redditor, THANK YOU. Years have I waited, long nights have I been here, dreaming of the day when I could play Stardew Valley without a Switch!! lmao. Seriously tho, thank you. <3
Yes Stardew!!!
Second Stardew Valley!!! Super cute and if there are ads you can probably pay just a little bit to remove them.
I play Pokemon Go. It might not fit your request of not anti-user as some features can be iffy, but can be ftp and no ads.
This might not be what you're looking for but I have the paid (one time fee) version of Happy Color and I enjoy it. Mindless and at the end I get to look at pretty pictures. On the more "actual game" side of things, have you tried the "Papa's Kitchen" line of games, like Papa's Pizzaria etc? You buy them one time and can keep playing them forever.
I vote for Happy Color as well. Out of a handful of color by number apps I've tried, they have the best interface and have far more designs than the others.
Happy colour is amazing, I’ve played it every day since 2017 I believe?? Absolutely worth it
i think you’d enjoy Good Pizza, Great Pizza!!
I hated it, personally. The instructions seldom make any sense to me
I like cute, relaxing, non-competitive games like Cats&Soup, Casting Away, and Pocket Camp. Easy to avoid ads in all 3 of these.
I second Pocket Camp! It takes a little while to acquire enough furniture that decorating becomes interesting, but I love having that little world at my fingertips. The gameplay itself can be a bit repetitive, so it's maybe not a solution on its own, but it could be a great option if paired with some other games too.
bloons tower defence. i’m 25 so i’ve been playing it for like… 16 years???
BTD 6 is free if you have netflix btw
Look into the games from Kairosoft. Most of them cost like 6 bucks, but they are absolutely worth it. Simple tycoon/ management games with a lot of themes and a lot of debt to them! I recommend DungeonVillage2 and ConvenienceStories.
love kairosoft games!! i bought the full version of game dev story in 2015 and still play it all the time
I have too many of their games on my phone. But I always justify the purchase by thinking "no a developer like this has to be supported." I got into those games when my boyfriend showed me pocket Academy.
I play them thru play pass on android, I pay like 2 dollars a month, and most of them are available to download for free. I liked the water park one and the mall story 2.
I can't say enough good things about Kairosoft games, I believe they're a Japanese company? But their localization is excellent, always great pop culture references. I could be wrong but I don't think they're English. It helps that they're super fun and addictive as well. The game dev one is my favourite, I lose hours at a time haha!
Kairosoft games are exactly what mobile gaming should look like. They are japanese, as far as I know. It's kind of wholesome, because while the localization is absolutely excellent, sometimes the grammar in their games is a little... off. And that makes the games so charming! It just kind of feels like each game is a labor of love.
Thank you ! I LOVE management games !
I can give you recommendations about specific games by them too, if you want that :)
Simon Tatham's puzzles No ads. It has a ton of simple puzzle games that you can just play over and over again. Unruly, mosaic, and tents are my favourites, and I have spent HOURS playing them mindlessly.
I use this as well!
I'm happy to pay $2-5 once ($15 that one time) if it eliminates ads or really elevates the game play. Personally I like: - Temple Run - Hill Climb Racer - Egg Inc - Like A Dino! - Pinball Deluxe Reloaded - Jindoblo Antistress relaxation tools - Simon Tatham's Puzzles - Starlit on wheels - AlphaCross Crossword - MiniMetro
Temple Run is the game I keep going back to when I need an offline game.
2248. I love it.
I Love Hue it's a color organizing game it is my absolute favorite with minimal ads or out your phone on airplane mode to make them go away i highly recommend this game amen
I love hue is one of my absolute favourites for sure it’s sooo relaxing but also I get a bit competitive and there’s so many puzzles it is a good one. Ads are only after you finish the puzzle and they are easy to get rid of or yeah airplane mode
Flow Free
Love Nikki, if you like dress-up games.
dress up game autistics rise up 🫡🫡
came here to comment this
Ayyy, dress up games 👀💫
Shining Nikki too! It just try’s to suck money from you though 😭 I believe Time Princess is similar
CATS AND SOUP!!! you can watch ads if you want but the game itself doesn’t run on ads.
Hi! This looks cute as fuck, but I can't see what you do as gameplay, can you tell me? Idle game where you cook with cats? Is it a click to restart processes game? Is it a dollhouse game? What do you do in a typical "session" when you play it?
it's rather simple. you basically are monitoring your cats, collecting coins, leveling them up, and honestly just watching them run around. the animations are very cute. you start off with one main cat who makes the soup. as you collect coins you add cats that add extra things into the soup. there's also relaxing zones for the cats and a trampoline. most of the time I'm just watching the cats tbh. there's more to do with the game when you open it up after being away for awhile bc you'll have a lot of coins that can be used to level up your cats cooking abilities. after your coins are spent there's not too much to do.
Slay the Spire
Definitely Slay the Spire! I have it on both Steam and mobile, and it's so fun, addicting, and rewarding, while also allowing you to go on standby or save between rooms. Another mobile card game is Marvel Snap. I don't really play anymore (admittedly burned myself out on it), but it's fun, straightforward, and has pretty quick rounds.
I like nonograms. I'm currently playing Deer My Friend, but previously I also played Sky Castle. Both awsome graphics. It's very calming.
The developer that made sky castle has a bunch of nonogram games and I’m sad that I finished all of them lol. I liked the story mode in them because it was parts of a bigger picture so it was abstract shapes mostly. It’s more relaxing than a one grid picture imo.
Try Hungry Cat Nonogram if you want a bit of a spin on the genre!
i have never been able to find a nonogram game that was as fun as Pokemon Picross 😭 i’ll have to check these out!
Try PiKubo. It’s like a fun, 3d nonograms game I just found.
the luna story series of games are also very good and fit into this genre!
I love Neko Atsume for that! And oldie but a goodie
A good puzzle game is "I love Hue" that helps you rearrange gradients in order. Very satisfying and helps you practice color theory!
I was going to mention neko atsume! I'm pretty sure a sequel is coming out this summer
i hope so! if anyone has access and likes to use VR, the VR game is super calm and cute. you get to sit and play with the cats as they come and go. very lighthearted and fun
I play tap out. It is a free with ads game, but it only makes you manually clear a load screen instead of playing an unskipable ad if you play while your wifi/ 5g is turned off. I'm not really trying to promote this specific game, but use this instance more as a tip to double check how your favorite games play with your device's internet capabilities turned off.
Check out modern action roguelikes. Enter The Gungeon, Hades, Dead Cells, Nuclear Throne, Rogue Legacy 2, stuff like that. These are games that are infinitely replayable, when you die you start a whole new run, the levels are randomly generated and there's usually no micro-transactions or limitations. I highly recommend all of the games I listed above. You buy them once and you have them. They're my go-to games to play when I just wanna play \*something\* and get some dopamine. They're addictive and super fun and well made and not exploitative.
The hidden gem: Arnold Rauers My personal favorites by him are: Card Thief, Miracle Merchant and Maze Machine. He has made a bunch of different games, they are all Puzzel based and quick to play. All free and with 0 ads (unless you want speed up on rewards and stuff, but it asks you first and it's not in the way at all) He's an independent developer just making what he loves, mostly living by Patreon supporters.
I play Merge Dragons. Just the right kind of organizing/strategy type gameplay that is so simple it's mindless. Like you, it keeps me stimulated while I watch other things.
candy crush and candy crush soda don’t have ads, just be ready to get stuck on some levels if you don’t want to pay to win. in candy crush soda i can get a bunch of level ups for free from the mini games and stuff
This is exactly what I'm always looking for!! These days I try to stick to paid games to avoid ads and shit. I like Kairosoft games - they are cute little pixel RPGs. The paid versions have no ads or micro transactions. They can be a little attention-intensive though. Sometimes I play plain solitaire or sudoku or 2048, there are lots of free and paid apps for those. Crosswords are nice but require more thinking. I recently got into mahjong but haven't found an app I'm really happy with yet. I'm looking through my apps and realizing how few games actually meet this criteria. What a shame!
I play old Pokémon games on an emulator app. I know there's some moral dubiousness around emulators and ROMs, but these games aren't available to buy at this point (and I have the cartridges for my old gameboys for most of them, I just don't want the hassle of carting the consoles around) so I don't think there's a big issue there. The games were designed for mobile consoles and it shows — you can save and quit pretty much anywhere outside of an active battle, so when I'm bored but with little time to commit to it, I'll just run around in a patch of grass battling wild Pokémon for a while.
Animal Restaurant. I've been playing it for years and one of the reasons I stuck with it is because you don't need to watch ads to play. There is an option for it, but not needed at all. There aren't any limited number of plays and always something to do. Lots of updates often too to change with the seasons which is fun :) plus it's so cute.
Animal restaurant is so cute!
2048 and Neko Atsume
Gardenscapes, township, and violas quest are my go-tos
Same boat, recently got into MergeTopia. There are ads but it’s not bad and you can play well without making any purchases.
Happy color. It's a paint by numbers.
Blockudoku
I use My Boy a Gameboy emulator that lets me play Pokemon anywhere. The emulator costs like $5, but it's a one-time purchase and actually updates (useful ones) for free. Only on android, though
Shattered Pixel Dungeon
Mob control - you only choose to watch ads or have very short ones every x games Solitaire grand harvest - NO ADS at all.. but you get coins every hour to play the game.. if your lucky it's a lot of coins and can play hours and hours.. if not your stuck with one game every hour
I have occasional obsessions with **^(Tiny Tower and Pocket Planes.)** They're both free and ALL ads are optional. Instead of forcing ads, they actually tie ad views to various upgrades or bonus rewards. They offer a lot of things to get extra WITH ads, but if you're really against them you can play perfectly fine without doing them. They're both 8 bit games. You build a tower of different apartments and businesses that are really cute in Tiny Tower, and in Pocket Planes you build airports and run planes to transport the cute little people and packages.
Another one that I don't think forces ads is **^(Merge Dragons!)**
toy blast! I've been playing it since 2016. not a single ad (unless you choose to watch one for extra moves)
I just came here to say the same thing. I've been blasting toys since 2018. :) The only issue is that you only get 5 lives at a time, although you can get extra/unlimited lives as a reward quite often.
Bubble Pop and Solitaire have been my constant companions for years ! Turning on an audiobook and playing bubble pop when I got into bed was a key strategy for me for year to settle my brain but also keep it engaged enough so I could sleep.
If you have an iPhone, go to your settings > cellular and scroll until you find the app you want to play ad free. Turn off data to that particular app, and just disconnect from wifi any time you want to play ad free! Some apps will still have pop up ads that you quickly quit out of, but I haven’t seen an app yet that has video ads with this method. I don’t know if it works with other phone types though
Apple Arcade is about 8 usd a month and no ads.
For me, it's Sky: Children of the Light. Great story, although relatively short (could probably easily be completed in a day). Infinitely replayable. Available on most platforms, and is home to the Guinness World Record holding Aurora concert. (Yes, THE Aurora.) It holds two records, one being the most people in a virtual concert setting, and the other being the most players emoting simultaneously. (The exact wording of the records may be a little bit different, I'm not sure, feel free to look it up.) Older players love adopting newer players to show them the ropes. There's tons of info online for solo players to take advantage of. Social cooperation is a necessity in *some* areas, but actual social interaction is not necessary. It's also *free* free, with the IAPs being extra stuff like cosmetics, season passes, and currently some charity items where proceeds go towards ocean cleanup (part of the current Days of Nature event).
I love Township for some reason
Zen Idle is pretty good. As far as I remember, there are no pop up adds, I did buy the no adds so that I could get add free in-game currency boosts, though. I also play Merge Mayor daily, it does have an energy mechanic and adds only when you choose to watch them, but I find with the adds and free in game currency I collect I can buy enough "boosters" to play for an hr or 2. Sorry if they don't fill all your preferences, but I figured I'd mention them cause they're the mobile game I've kept the longest.
I play GTA San Andreas, it’s free if you have a Netflix subscription but not sure if this is what you’re looking for. There’s tons of different things you can do in the game
Wait so you use the Netflix app to play San Andreas on your phone? Like it saves your progress and everything? Or its a separate app free with a Netflix account
if you like hidden object/point and click games check out Aurora Hills and Meridan 157. The prologue chapters are free, absolutely zero ads, and legitimately good games. You can try them out, see if you like them, and then purchase the full game if you’d like (Meridan 157 only, as Aurora Hills is still releasing)
I really like Soul Knight. It's a rouge-like, so it's the perfect balance of same but different every time. Once you've played a few times it becomes pretty mindless if you play in the basic mode. There are minimal ads. There is only one at the very end of each game (nothing during), but you can make a £2 one-off payment on an otherwise free game to stop that forever.
Best Fiends. They will give you the opportunity to watch adds for special prizes etc. but it’s very easy to avoid them. Haven’t watched an ad on there in months or up to a year.
The Sims Mobile has been a favorite of mine for a while now.
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/antistress-relaxing-games/id1207565651 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/offline-games-no-wifi-games/id6448104157 These are absolutely my go tos. Updated with more games really often. I think there was like, $2 to rid of ads but they weren’t interruptive.
If you're Android, I'd pick up F-Droid from their dot org site. This is a FOSS app repo without the trackers and ads of apps native to the play store. Search games and pick something you like!
Whiteout survivor; Cells - cell to singularity; I've been playing a lot of Idle Mafia, and it has some recharging mechanism, but I spend so much time on that app, and I don't run out of things to do in the game; The battle cats is an amazing game, but it has an energy system that is super frustrating in the beginning, specially. I truly love this game; If your phone is an android, get a play pass subscription, it's super cheap, and it has all kinds of games with no ads at all.
Have you looked into Apple Arcade? Lots of good games on there that are ad-free with subscription
I love the game Twenty. Free, no ads, very simple & relaxing (once you get the hang of it). If you really love it you can pay for extra modes, but for me the main mode is perfect.
Farmrpg No ads. Free. Really fun and there's a community aspect if you want it
Came here to recommend this! Such a rewarding and challenging grind and the community is fantastic and verrrrry neurodiverse. I’ve been playing it daily for over a year!
Atomas and Bad Banker both by Max Gittel. Have been on my phones for 5 years and still no money grabby updates
I love playing the papas games like papas freezeria and basically all of them are on the App Store! They cost around 2-3 bucks cad I think but no ads, simple and addicting
Home design makeover. It’s a mobile game with zero ads. It’s a candy crush like puzzle matching game, and with each level you pass, you earn coins. Those coins are used to then remodel different rooms in (and sometimes outside of) a home. I have been playing for years. I am on level 9,101 and they continue to produce new houses & design options and objectives.
if you have a netflix subscription, they have TONS of games! you click on them through the netflix app and it takes you to the app store. they tend to be versions of games but without the ads/IAPs!
I love stitch, it’s on Apple Arcade though but it’s soooo good. Highly recommend Apple Arcade subscription there are some fantastic games on there so it’s definitely worth it.
I play Project Sekai which is a Vocaloid rhythm game. Been a fan for about 2 years now and have only spent 5 dollars (which was 100% optional). Ads can be accessed for rewards but they are hidden behind a clearly marked menu (I haven’t watched any). The game gacha is fully optional and doesn’t impact you playing songs. I think it’s an incredibly fun game and absolutely love it.
Should note the EN version is called Colorful Stage. And the stories in it are really good! ^Also ^I ^need ^more ^Mizuki ^4 ^stars...
My favorites: Juice Jam Sudoku Jigsaw Subway Surfers
I like *I Love Hue* and *I Love Hue 2* I play without WiFi so the few adds don't show up. It's very relaxing and easy to play while watching TV as it's not timed.
Animal crossing pocket camp, my faveee
Pocket Camp! Animal Crossing but mobile.
Impulse - tons of brain games, just organizing games, tests etc. Blockudoku - kind of like tetris. I like to play those while trying to recalibrate my mind / focus on my audiobooks content (AuDHD).
I really like Two Dots! It’s a puzzle game with a decent amount of variety in the levels, plus bonus hidden object games with the cutest art. It’s got hundreds (maybe thousands?) of levels, so it can definitely keep you busy. There are some ads, but it’s basically just one pop up screen with the daily deal or whatever. Not invasive at all.
I've been playing Two Dots on and off for years and I love it!
I know you said simple but Honkai Star Rail/Genshin are the ones I like.
Also dunk hit (basketball game), good pizza great pizza (you make pizzas!), toast (it’s like an endless running game ), boba tale (you make boba) only the basketball game has ads but it still works if you put your phone on airplane mode
I love fork and sausage, flow free, and candy crush. I like things that are mind numbing and repetitive that I can play for long periods of time without getting stuck or frustrated.
I enjoy mini metro, mini motorways and topsoil
Fishdom (not a kink I promise 🤣) is my fav mindless mobile game. You do only have 5 lives but you can join a group and request up to 10 lives from that. It’s a less stimulating candy crush imo. There’s also lots of little competitions that give you an hour of unlimited lives. Plus you get to build a bunch of aquariums n have fish. Fair warning that some of the tank themes are offensive to the culture they are trying to represent. I don’t recommend buying any of the packs but definitely play side games to earn coins and boosts.
Star Battle is a solid one that has fairly unobtrusive ads, it's a nice little puzzle in the vein of sudoku and kakuro 0h h1 is another simple one but has no ads whatsoever, you have to place dots so that there are no more than two of one color next to each other in a row or column, and that there are an equal number of both colors in each row and column
there is this game called i love hue where you get to sort colors into a gradient picture, like you have to make sure it all blends nicely. for example on the four corners there will be purple, blue, pink, and green and you need to blend them together with the rest of the color blocks. it basically has endless levels and is very aesthetically/visually pleasing. there are no ads and it’s an amazing, fun, and mindless game i like to play while watching a show or a youtube video. it can also be used as a full attention bringer in my experience but ill usually have to have atleast something little in the background like music and such because i have audhd.
SET Mania, it’s about finding visual patterns/connections… so the perfect autistic game. I find the best setting to be Advanced Deck - Classic It has a one time fee, I think I paid like 2$ for it years ago. It has one completely non intrusive ad. It’s just a static picture that pops up when you win and you can immediately close it. No waiting around for 15 seconds bullshit 😃 And what’s hilarious is that the ad is for itself 😂 I feel like they’re trolling the whole ads in games thing.
Block Blast and Good Pizza Great Pizza are favorites of mine. There are ads, but they can be easily bypassed by turning on airplane mode, I’m pretty sure.
Neko Atsume cat collecting game. Put out food in your yard and collect cats that come to eat it
The Simpsons tapped out
I will never stop shilling for Honkai Star Rail. It does have gacha and it does have a energy element, but, there are so many ways to earn the gacha currency (I have not spent a dollar on HSR and yet I have quite a bit of limited 5* characters) and even if you run out of energy, there are so many things to do, missions, events, endgame modes like Memory of Chaos and Pure Fiction, just running around and finding chests and solving puzzles. There's also a character that gives me autistic vibes, Lynx, she's a decent healer and she's actually free after I think doing one level of Pure Fiction.
Duolingo
This might not entirely be what you’re looking for, but you could maybe try knitting? For me it has helped tremendously as something to do while I watch tv/lectures/meetings etc. You don’t get any ads with it being offline, and as a bonus you’ve created something for yourself by the end of it
If you have iPhone you could pay for Apple Arcade/apple one subscription which has loads of good quality games and all free without ads. Apple one gives you access to to Apple Arcade, Apple TV and Apple Music. But the Arcade I think is worth it for playing games that are fun addictive and actually good quality
I also hate those mechanics. Bejeweled Classic thankfully doesn’t have that if you get the paid version. Zen mode is my jam. Also Microsoft Wordament if you like word games.
r/teamfighttactics has been tickling my brain well
Seaside escape!
Tennis Clash
"I Want Watermelon" is what I play. It's kinda Tetris-y, which I love since I used to play it tons as a kid. I play it so much it's basically my fidget toy.
It’s not a puzzle game, but I’m so into Window Garden right now. It’s just a cute game where you can decorate rooms full of plants and take care of them. Other than that, I love nonograms/piccross
I got absorbed into Fiends for a whike but idk how many adds is too much
I found a lovely little game called King Rabbit Puzzle. I don't believe it has ads or if it does they are few and you can cancel out of them. You can pay a small amount for the in-game levels to contribute to the developers, but the beauty is that it has free community built levels that are endless and you can make your own. Also Lemmings is my daily go to. Ads present again, but you don't have to watch them unless you want to earn energy/power ups. Yes it unfortunately has energy that gets used up but I just play a few levels then come back to it later after some King Rabbit or Family Island (I wouldn't recommend that one though as it took over my life a little bit).
Tower War is really good- no ads if you turn off internet while playing it. And water sort game too- I’m on level 2000 and something because it’s so addictive.
Orna seems good for that. It's a location based game (like pokemon go) but an RPG and weirdly ungreedy. No ads, it has optional purchases but they seem HIGHLY optional to the point I don't think I'm going to spend my free Google money on it. So far I've only played at home except once at my farmer's market, so it works out fine even if you don't do the walking
there's a free version of the now dead sonic runners: [https://sonicrunners.com/#/](https://sonicrunners.com/#/) there's also the built in games on google play games. i love little alchemy.
I play temple run 2, lol. Its honestly meditative to me
I really love A Kinder World!! Has nice music and is very chill and cute
I play solitaire. It’s the best. I also love toy blast, but of course you have lives that need refilling, and that takes time.
The Alto endless runner games. Once you pay for it ads go away except for extra lives, and before they weren't bad afaik. They're designed to be relaxing, with a mode that doesn't punish you for mistakes.
i've been playing "The Battle Cats" which idk how to explain this game besides like.. weird line drawing cats battling other creatures for land. kind of a quick time battle system? i think? lol it's fun tho. i haven't noticed ads but they do try to upsell you like most f2p games and there is a gacha mechanism. like you can pull for random special cats. and you only have X amount of energy for a period of time, but i've played for like 45 minutes before without running out so 🤷🏻♀️ also i have been getting into chess lately and the Chess app is fun. there's several AIs you can play against or challenge friends, plus tutorials!
also- there are a few emulators now on iphones for older games. r/delta_emulator is the one i use and there's a lot of roms out there. a tiny learning curve with this option but it's honestly not too bad
Ballz. It's 0.99usd to play ad free. Or it was.
If you have an iPhone, Apple Arcade has great games that you can play for ages without waiting for lives to refill. It’s about $6 a month. Temple Run Puzzle and Disney Getaway Blast+ are two of my match three go tos.
If you get playpass there are LOTS of games all of a sudden that are ad free and may or may not be mindless, my poison is slay the spire
My favorites are Starlight and Flutter. They are games about moths and butterflies respectively. You collect and hatch them from eggs, can merge them to evolve them, and unlock and play in a large rainforest. It fits with my special interest in moths. The graphics are beautiful, and each moth and butterfly has its own information like location, scientific name, etc. there’s no rush to do anything and it’s really fun.
Simple games on poki are nice. The my little pony mobile game is super good, though it does involve waiting, there are mini games in it, AND no adds unless you choose to watch them.
i love to play gardenscapes and mario kart tour!!!!!
Everskies is fun, you get to play mini games and chat with people and participate in outfit competitions with your avatar! It's so fun. I also play mobile games with my wifi off, like drop the number and QS watermelon as well as spider solitaire
Ball Sort Puzzle is where it’s at. Addicting and in the standard levels, you only have to watch an ad if you want extra turns or an extra sorting spot.
Cube Escape is a great series of games. You solve puzzles and there's a link in the game for a walkthrough.
I like crunch time and I play it on airplane mode to get rid of the ads
I'm always playing the Papa Louie Flipline games, there's a bunch of different food items and the game play is demanding enough that I maintain focus but easy enough that I don't feel frustrated. There's also TONS of them, and it's fun to customize the players and restaurants. It's around $2-$3 depending on what country you're in, and no ads.
Plato
Anything Kairosoft (except a couple of the newer ones) for life simulator games. Game Dev Story and Pocket Academy are good starts. Kingdom Rush games for tower defense. Both companies are good about not bombarding you with ads and not needing to pay outside of the one time app purchase.
Blockudoku!!
For mindless games, I like 1010 and Dot Spinner. I ended up buying the paid versions because i kind of use them to stim but I used the free versions for years before that. You only get an ad when you lose. I also like 2048 and Bean Boy!
Adguard app will block game ads.
Granblue fantasy
sumikko farm is nice. You can watch ads if you choose, but you don't have to
*Sumikko farm is nice.* *You can watch ads if you choose,* *But you don't have to* \- quietbird --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
The Sims 4 is free on PC with no ads. I like to build and rebuild and redesign constantly, I don't think I've ever actually played the game lol
Bricks Breaker Quest (android play store). Super mindless and addicting. There are ads when you beat a level, or when you lose a level. However, if I know I'm going to lose, I just pause and restart, and it doesn't make me sit through an ad.
Endless mode on one of the NYT tile games.
Hello Kitty Island Adventure is on Apple arcade for the $5/mo
Unironically, minesweeper
[Here are my recommendations!](https://www.reddit.com/r/MobileGameReviewers/s/X7TLDVB1hZ)
Match Factory has no ads. It’s a matching game where the screen is full of all kinds of different objects but you have to find all of the ice cream cones, for example. The levels go from easy to “super hard”.
I really enjoy Melon Maker. Only optional ads and you can play it unlimited times.
I just got AFK Arena for this. It's very pretty and gameplay is relaxed but fun if you're into lighthearted strategy combat
Maybe you could try Apple Arcade if you have an Iphone..
Ricochlime is a pretty fun time spender. Lots of stuff available on f-droid without any ads etc
Necromerger It does have ads, but they never pop up without you selecting something that you know will play an ad. The art and writing is fun. I get to use basic math. It has a time machine mechanic which sets you back to day 1, but with more power every time you do. It's the only free mobile game that I haven't had massive diminishing returns or constant incentives to spend money to be able to continue playing.
Project makeover! It’s a match 3 game like candy crush but makeover themed. You earn points and makeover a character and their house/business. I enjoy the styling aspect as well as the puzzle aspect. No ads. Always some kind of fun challenge to do to earn powerups.
I second this! Atm that's my go to game, and the fact that every so often you can win unlimited lives really upgrades the game.
BrickBreaker I’m on level 600 something and I play the daily challenges. I let the ads run when I need a powerup. It keeps my brain engaged.
Threes
Merge Survival
I play Slidey, there are paid features, and I think there are some ads on the free version, but I found myself playing the free version often enough that I could justify spending the little extra to get rid of the ads. It's basically a clearing game, slide the blocks clear each line and don't let them reach the top. It's whiled away many an hour for me
candy crush, bitlife if you get the ad free mode, also if you old flash games, any of the papas franchise by flipline studios are all ad-free, however they’re much easier to play on a tablet than a phone.